Making Sense (17 page)

Lifting his head reluctantly, he glanced out of the window and saw the others still in the pool, looking set to stay there, for the near future at least.

Mischievously, he raised a hand to the tie at the back of her neck.
 

Chapter Fourteen

Freya went still, but didn’t move away. Encouraged, wanting to see her, he caught the ties between his fingers and pulled. He let the two laces fall forward, but the material of her bikini remained tantalisingly stuck to her breasts. She looked down at them, but she didn’t try to cover herself up. Heart thumping, Nate took a tie in each hand and pulled them slowly down. Gradually, the material peeled off the swell of her breasts, eventually revealing her nipples, a beautiful rosy pink, swollen and begging
to be touched.

He just admired her for a moment, though, stroking the backs of his fingers down her arms. When he raised his eyes to her face, a flush had stained both her cheeks.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said huskily, amused at her embarrassment after everything they’d done. She didn’t say anything, so he slid his hands around her warm stomach and then up to cup her breasts, feeling the weight of them in his palms. Watching her face, he rubbed his thumbs over her nipples and squeezed them gently. She closed her eyes and shivered as her nipples tightened to small, hard buttons in his fingers, and he groaned and bit her earlobe, pressing his erection against her butt. “God, Freya.”

“Nate…”

He lifted her face to his and kissed her hungrily. He’d never wanted a woman so desperately, had never felt this urge to lift a girl’s skirt and thrust straight into her. He wanted to make her sigh, to watch her come. He wanted her so badly it hurt.

Still rubbing her left nipple between his thumb and forefinger, he dropped his right hand to the split in the wrap and rested it on her thigh before sliding it up slowly until his fingers brushed the edge of her bikini bottoms. He raised his head, his lips hovering over hers as he lifted the material and moved his hand underneath, slipping his fingers into her hair, down into the heart of her. She was already swollen, already wet, and as he began to stroke her, she dropped her head, bracing her hands on the worktop as she pushed back against him.

“God, I want to be inside you,” he murmured, planting kisses along her shoulder, lacing his tongue up the salty skin of her neck. She trembled in his arms and he groaned. “Oh, do that again.”

“Nate, God, you’re driving me mad.”

He cursed the fact that they were at Ash’s house and not in his flat. Still, that needn’t stop him giving her pleasure while they were alone. He slid his fingers deep into her, making her gasp, and then brought them through her slippery folds to stroke her while his left hand continued to play with her nipple. She arched her back, pushing her breast into his hand and encouraging him to squeeze harder, a movement so erotic that he sighed. Covering the pulse point on her neck with his mouth, he sucked gently.
 

“Ah…” She raised a hand to cup his face again, and he could feel the quivers of desire running through her, little lightning bolts of passion that sent their synapses firing.

“Come for me,” he murmured, kissing her ear, touching his tongue to it.

“No.” To his disappointment, she pushed herself back from the worktop and moved his hands away, but as he watched, she slipped the bikini bottoms off quickly and then looked over her shoulder at him, her mismatched eyes taunting him.

“Here?” he said, hardening so much his erection nearly broke the stitching on his shorts.

She glanced into the garden. “They’re all in the pool.” She looked back at him, her eyes beseeching. “Please, Nate.” She licked her lips, her blue and green eyes wickedly hot, urging him on.

“Are you sure?” he said huskily.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t.” Her eyes turned desperate. “God, Nate, please…I want you inside me.”

Well, how was he supposed to refuse that? He glanced out of the window, making sure nobody had got out of the pool. Luckily, they were too far away to see the kitchen clearly. When he looked back at Freya, she’d obviously realised he’d given in, because her lips had parted, and her eyes gleamed.

Heart thudding, he freed himself from his shorts, moving her wrap aside to expose the pale cheeks of her backside. He stroked them, and then, before she could protest, smacked her butt lightly. “For being wicked,” he said as she gasped, and he pulled her hips toward him. “Honestly. Talk about lead me astray.”

She laughed as she widened her legs, and he slid his erection underneath until the tip pressed inside her. He paused and sighed, revelling in the thought of what was to come. Her, namely. Then him. Hopefully in that order.

“No time for that,” she scolded him breathlessly. “Hard and fast, Taylor.”

He groaned and pushed his hips forward, burying himself in her warmth. They both gasped, and he held her hips firmly, letting her adjust for a second before he began to move.

Leaning forward, he stroked her breasts before sliding a hand down between her legs to caress her sensitive spot, making her sigh erotically. She wasn’t far from coming, he could tell. Part of him was disappointed—she was so hot, so fantastic, he wanted to draw it out, make the most of it, but that wasn’t going to happen this time. Before long, her breathing became more erratic, and he began to thrust harder, deeper, his hands coming up to hold her hips. Freya dropped to her elbows on the worktop, pushing back, and as his climax built deep inside, she began to tighten around him.

“Fuck.” White-hot heat surged up from him into her, and she squealed, clamping around him, intensifying his orgasm as her pulsing muscles squeezed him. He tangled his hand in her hair, clenched his fingers on her hips, pushing so hard he worried for a moment he might have speared her to the worktop. “Jeez, Freya!”

“Oh Nate…”

Sweat slid down his back, and her skin glowed in the sunlight. They stood there for a moment, letting their bodies relax and the spasms in their muscles slowly die down. Nate leaned forward. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, pushing aside her hair so he could kiss her neck. “Exotic and beautiful, like a wild flower.”

“Whoa!”

The two of them straightened and Nate pulled out of Freya hurriedly. It was Grace, and she turned her back to them, saying, “Oh shit, sorry!” as Nate hurriedly stuffed himself back into his shorts and Freya slipped her bikini bottoms on and tied up her top.

“Oh God.” Freya’s cheeks were scarlet.

Nate bit his lip, amused and mortified at the same time. They’d got carried away, and he hadn’t thought to check to see if anyone had got out of the pool. He pulled her to him with one arm, and she leaned her forehead on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her hair and murmured, “Sorry, honey.”

Grace glanced over her shoulder, saw they were decent, and turned. Hands on hips, she studied them. Her eyes were amused, but also flinty hard.

Nate released Freya reluctantly, watching as she walked past Grace without saying anything, eyes lowered, heading for the bathroom. Grace watched her go, lips twisted wryly, then turned back to look at Nate. She raised an eyebrow.

Nate rubbed his face with his hand. “Shit, Grace, sorry.”

Grace shook her head, putting on what he assumed was her teacher’s face. “Honestly. Thank God it wasn’t Jodi who found you.”

“I know. I’m really sorry.” He massaged the back of his neck with his hand as he thought of how bad he’d have felt if the teenager had walked in on them.
Poor Freya.
Grace was going to make her life a misery.

She tipped her head at him. “I thought you only slept with women once?”

He didn’t know what to say to that. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared mutely at her.

She folded her arms. “Next time, try to make it to a bedroom.”

“Oh jeez…”

“You work here, for Christ’s sake—you know there’s a spare one at the end of the hall.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the kitchen sink. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. We got…carried away.” He looked back at her.

She surveyed him thoughtfully. “Hmm. There’s something odd about this kitchen.” She shook her head. “I’d better go and speak to Freya. She’s going to be dying in there.”

“Perhaps I should go.”

“No, I want to talk to her. Ash is going to be wondering what we’re up to. He wanted another bottle of lemonade—can you take one out, please?”

“Sure.” Nate hesitated. “Grace?”

“Yes?”

“Tell her I’m sorry.”

Grace smiled, reaching out to rub his arm. “You’re not so bad, Nate, underneath it all. You’re good for each other, you know that?”

“I don’t know. Really I don’t. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Then don’t.” Grace’s brown eyes were kind, but firm.

Nate looked out of the window. Jodi dived into the pool as Ash cheered her on, but his gaze was far away, thinking about the blonde woman who occupied his thoughts permanently at the moment. “I think it might be too late for that.”

Freya flushed the toilet and then put the lid down and sat with her head in her hands. She had to go out and face Grace—it was the only way to get past the moment, but she was far too embarrassed to even contemplate leaving the room. Would anyone notice if she stayed there until after dark?

When the knock came on the door, she hoped fervently it was Nate. “Yes?”

“It’s me,” said Grace.

Freya groaned.

“Let me in.”

“Go away, I’m dying in here.”

Grace laughed. “Come on honey. It’s not the end of the world.”

Freya rubbed her face and then got up and walked over to the door. She unlocked it and opened it, standing back to let Grace in. Her face burned, and it only grew worse as she met Grace’s amused gaze.

“Oh God, don’t.” She sat back down, her scorching cheeks in her hands.

Grace perched on the edge of the bath and rubbed her back. “Oh come on, we’ve known each other for long enough not to be worried about this sort of thing.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea what was going through both of your minds,” said Grace, “and it wasn’t tea and scones.”

“Grace…”

“Don’t worry. It’s the kitchen. I think maybe there’s an Indian burial ground underneath it or something.”

“What…?”

“Never mind.” Grace grinned. “Did I ever tell you about the time Jodi almost caught me and Ash on the sofa?”

Freya blew her nose, not yet mollified. “No.”

“She’d gone to his sister’s, but she came back because she’d forgotten her iPod. We didn’t hear the car draw up and only realised she’d returned when we heard the front door open. There’s me, completely naked, sitting astride Ash, also naked. And we weren’t playing cards.”

“Oh God. What did Ash say?”

“I think his actual words were ‘Shit, bollocks, fuck’. In that order.”

They both started laughing. “What did Jodi say?”

“We managed to scramble to our feet and pull our T-shirts on, but it was quite obvious what we’d been up to. She just rolled her eyes, though, and said something along the lines of ‘For God’s sake you two, I’ve only been out of the house five minutes’. She was fine. It took me considerably longer to recover.” Grace leaned over and kissed Freya on the cheek. “Seriously, honey, we’re all grownups. Don’t worry about it. Just…be careful.”

“I’m on the pill, Grace.”

“Jeez, TMI, Freya. I meant generally. Do you know what you’re getting into?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. We’re still at the ‘it’s just sex’ stage.”

“You may be,” said Grace. “Nate isn’t.”

Freya stared at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean he’s into you, honey, big time. And it’s scaring him.”

Freya’s heart pounded. “He’s into me?” she asked in a small voice.

Grace gave her a pitying look. “Oh dear. Looks like he isn’t the only one.”

“I…” Freya couldn’t deny it. She blinked as realisation set in. “No, I can’t be in love. It’s inconvenient.”

Grace smiled wryly. “Love always is, I’m afraid.”

“I mean it, Grace. This was supposed to be uncomplicated and fun, not heavy. This’ll be the last thing he wants. It’s the last thing
I
want.”

“I don’t actually think it’s the last thing that either of you wants, and I think it’s exactly what you both need. But I understand it’s frightening. I’ve been there, remember? I did
not
want to fall in love with a medium—I didn’t believe in all that crap. I thought Ash was a lunatic and told him as much. I thought he was either delusional or out to trick me. I told him that too.” She thought about that for a moment, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Lord knows why the man likes me. But my point is that when it happens, there’s no rhyme or reason to it. We can’t predict scientifically why one person will fall for another. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it
is
magic, in a way. And when it happens…” She cupped Freya’s face and smiled. “You’ve got to go with it.”

Freya swallowed. “I don’t know how much Ash has told you about Nate’s past, but he ran away, and he’s still running. He doesn’t want to be tied down.”